Thursday, 4 December 2014

North Korea orders everyone sharing leader's name to change it

North Korea
has ordered people who share the name of leader Kim Jong Un to change
their names, South Korea's state-run KBS television reported on
Wednesday.

North Korea
imposed similar bans on the use of the names of its two former leaders,
Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, as part of
propaganda drives to build cults of personality around them.

Kim
Jong Un's name is not allowed for newborns and people who share the
name must not just stop using it but must change it on their birth
certificates and residence registrations, KBS reported, citing an
official North Korean directive.

Kim
Jong Il, the father of the current leader, issued the order in 2011,
when his son was heir apparent, KBS said. The elder Kim died in December
that year and his son took power.

South
Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles ties with the North, could
not immediately confirm the report but said it was plausible.

"The
ban is highly possible since North Korea had the same policy in the era
of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung," a ministry official said.

It
is not known how many people there are in North Korea called Kim Jong
Un, but Kim is a very common family name and Jong Un are common given
names.